The ‘Truth’ about Gas-Saving” Products

It seems that every time gas prices increase the number of products on the market that say they will help you save gas increases also. There are plenty of practical steps that you can take to save gasoline, to be sure, but many people are still wanting to increase their gas savings further and can sometimes fall victim to advertisements for products that sound great but usually are not. The fact is, most of the products on the market today that are being sold to help people save gas don’t actually work or, at best, save only a very small amount of gas.

As with anything in life it’s always a good idea to be skeptical and, when it comes to gas saving devices, it may be a good idea to be more than just a little skeptical. Some of the claims that you should be on the lookout for include the ones that were going to talk about below. Enjoy.

Many ads will tell you that they have a product that ‘improves fuel economy by 20%’ or some other impressive number. It sure sounds great but the fact is that, despite testing or at least evaluating more than 100 devices that allegedly save gas, the EPA has not found a single one that will significantly improve your gas mileage. Even worse, some of these products have been found to actually increase exhaust emissions, something that’s not so great for the planet, and also damage your car’s engine.

Some products will tell you that after you install them in your car will get more miles per gallon. These ads usually feature excellent and glowing testimonials from customers who are incredibly satisfied but, the fact is, very few people have the equipment or the knowledge to be able to test and make sure that the claimed increase in mileage is actually being achieved. There are so many variables that affect fuel consumption, including road conditions, your car’s condition, traffic conditions and much more.

One of the worst examples of this are testimonials that are based on products that were installed at the same time that a car had a complete tune-up, something that of course is never mentioned in the testimonial. The increased gas mileage could very well be attributed to the tune-up rather than the product that was installed.

Many manufacturers will try get you to believe that their product is ‘approved by the federal government’. This is actually a blatant lie as the federal government does not endorse a single ‘gas saving’ product for any automobile. About the most that any company can say is that their product has been evaluated by the EPA and, if this is the case, you can ask them for their EPA report or go online and see if they are listed on the EPA.gov website.

One factor that is practically impossible to tell is how a fuel saving product will affect your car in the long run. While the EPA evaluates some products to see if they will improve (or hurt) your fuel economy, they don’t test for the effects that the product will have on your vehicle over time. Today’s new cars have emission control systems that are incredibly sophisticated and, in many cases, retrofit products that you put on your car to save gas may very well damage or negatively affect the systems.

At the end of the day if you’ve purchased a gas saving product that doesn’t appear to be working (which is really not a big surprise) the first thing that you should do is contact the manufacturer and ask that your money be refunded. The majority of companies that make these products offer money back guarantees and, if they do and your product isn’t working, you should definitely take advantage of the guarantee. Besides that you can also contact the consumer protection agency in your city and also file a complaint with the FTC.